WWC | Chapter 7

As soon as the words fell, the rim of the bowl struck straight against Yan Che’s lips and teeth, and the liquid poured down his throat without leaving him any room to refuse. The movement was somehow devilishly elegant, not a single drop spilling.

Yan Che swallowed in a panic, not even able to let out a breath. He finished the whole bowl without even knowing what he had drunk, not tasting a thing.

With their faces so close, his nose and mouth were filled entirely with that faint, almost dizzying aroma of Thousand Mountains Quiet Orchid, streaming endlessly from his teacher’s body.

Yan Che only felt as if he were drowning, as if his soul was about to rise to heaven. Sweat drenched him as he mumbled, “…Teacher, are you force-feeding me medicine too?”

“Actually, you don’t have to force-feed me medicine. I’m pretty good at it right now…”

Su Tingyan froze mid-motion and nearly dropped the bowl. “What are you thinking? It’s just a bowl of loofah soup!”

“To cool you down!”

He had thought his teacher had made him drink some fierce aphrodisiac, and Yan Che sadly licked his lips.

Su Tingyan laughed. “Not bad. I’ll reward you.”

In his hazy state, hearing Su Tingyan say that, Yan Che’s drunken brain cleared at once. Excitement surged through him so violently that he almost bounced off the floor.

He had even assumed the reward was meant for himself.

The next moment, however, he saw Su Tingyan turn around and say lightly to Qinghai, “Good work. Properly reward the servant who cooked the loofah soup, and give him more.”

Yan Che: …………

The system：[Target character “Yan Che” affection increased to 500, maximum 1000. Player has perfectly used the Beauty’s Gift skill twice, gaining an additional 30 charm points!]

Su Tingyan: …

What the hell did I even do? This was only the beginning of the game, so why had his affection already gone up by half?!

Su Tingyan: “What happens if the target character affection maxes out?”

The system：[You can command him to sleep with you at any time.]

Su Tingyan: “………………..” Who needs that???

Also, how the hell was he supposed to lower this guy’s affection???

As if it knew what Su Tingyan wanted to ask, the system explained considerately: [The affection for the Sixth Prince’s route can’t be lowered, oh. No matter what you do, he’ll like it. His route is the simplest and easiest to conquer, too, so you could say the developers gave you a little bonus!]

Su Tingyan: “…Does she even know what a bonus means?”

The system：[Think about it, player. Once his affection is maxed out, you can order him to sleep with you from morning till night. Every time you sleep with him, your charm increases a little. Once you’ve slept with him enough times to reach a million points, you’ll clear the game smoothly!]

A million times…

Honestly, hearing something so absurd, Su Tingyan’s first worry was not even his own ass.

He thought, with that kind of earth-shattering sleeping method, even the Sea-Quelling Divine Needle would end up leaving only the needle behind in the end…

Su Tingyan: “Don’t make me curse at you.”

The system instantly fell silent like a chicken.

No longer bothering with that little horny fool who was no longer drugged but might as well have been, Su Tingyan turned and walked toward Li Xian, who was huddled in the corner as if he wanted to shrink into the cracks in the floor.

When Li Xian saw the Su University Scholar, whose face looked like Guanyin but whose ferocity rivaled a Rakshasa, walking toward him, he nearly died on the spot. “S-Su, Su-daren, it has nothing to do with me. It was the Sixth Highness, he, he struck first. He wanted to snatch that performer, but I already gave him up. It was him…”

Su Tingyan gave him a sidelong glance, and a cold, vicious chill crawled over his sharply carved brows. “Choose your words carefully, Young Master Li. After all, that is the Sixth Highness.”

He spoke with such certainty, not allowing the slightest defilement of the royal family’s dignity.

As if the one who had just kicked the Son of Heaven was not himself.

The bearing of someone in power made every word he said sound like a divine decree. “This pavilion is not here to hear you argue over who was right and who was wrong. Young Master Li must have been frightened tonight. Why not let this pavilion personally escort you home, so as to spare Lord Li from worry?”

Li Xian’s face instantly turned as white as paper, cold sweat pouring down. He hurriedly kowtowed. “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare! I can go back on my own! Tonight, tonight I was just drunk and fell over myself! Yes, I just fell over!”

If his father learned that he had fought a prince over a woman in a brothel, and had even been beaten black and blue, and that this had somehow alarmed the Grand Secretariat’s Su-daren, he would be beaten to death the moment he got home!

Yan Che snorted from the side, seemingly unwilling to accept this. “Why bother sending him?”

Su Tingyan did not even glance at him. He only said, “What do you think?”

Yan Che’s eyes lit up, and he instantly started climbing the pole. “Teacher, wouldn’t it be even better if you sent me instead?”

Su Tingyan smiled without smiling. “Sure. Then I’ll send you to the palace right now, and you can go reflect properly before His Majesty?”

Yan Che wilted instantly. “…Then send him instead.”

Su Tingyan pinched the bridge of his nose. At last, he managed to suppress this ridiculous mess for the time being.

He ordered Qinghai, “Go prepare two carriages. I’ll personally escort Young Master Li back to his residence in one of them.”

“As for the other one…”

His gaze swept over Yan Che, who was looking at him expectantly from the side, and he said mercilessly, “Send the Sixth Highness back to his princely residence. Without my permission, he is not allowed to step outside his residence again tonight, not even half a step.”

Qinghai replied respectfully, “Yes, my lord.”

He turned to leave, but then the sleeve of his robe was tugged from behind again.

Looking back, he saw that Yan Che had somehow leaned in close again. Those eyes of his were wet and glistening. Sure enough, he was still young, and when he looked at someone with affection, it always seemed like surging waves and a shower of scattering blossoms, with feelings so full they could hardly fit anywhere in the capital.

“Teacher, are you just leaving like this? Aren’t you going to punish me for anything else?”

“Oh.” Su Tingyan silently pulled his sleeve out of the other’s hand, as if he had suddenly remembered something. “Right.”

“How about this, since you’re so excited tonight, I can tell you’re not going to sleep anyway. I’ll punish you by making you copy *Jun Jian* one thousand times when you get back.”

“Turn it in to the Imperial College before Chen hour tomorrow.”

Yan Che: …

Su Tingyan raised an eyebrow. “What, you’re scared now?”

After a brief pause, Yan Che looked a little shy. “Can I copy it two thousand times?”

“If Teacher is willing to come supervise me copying by hand in person, then no matter how many times you want me to copy it, even ten thousand times would be fine… Really, I’d be willing to do it!”

………………..

Su Tingyan fled in open terror.

Damn it… insane. He was truly insane!!

He had never seen anyone actively ask to copy even more books!

He could not spend another second in this damn place!

Sitting in the carriage taking Li Xian back home, Su Tingyan rubbed his temples while listening to the system’s settlement.

The system：[The Zhunyun Tower incident has been resolved. Total charm gained: 1000 (physiological fluctuations) + 2000 (kicking the Sixth Prince) + 30 (skill usage) + 10 (incident handling) = 3040 points.]

Su Tingyan looked at that skyrocketing charm value, his feelings complicated.

Although the process had been insanely absurd and mentally polluted, the payoff was really, damn high!

At this rate, could he gather enough points to go home just by kicking Yan Che and angering Lu Xuan?

The system reminded him at the right time：[Player, please note, repeated triggering of similar events will cause rewards to diminish progressively. Overreliance on a single target to farm points may also trigger unpredictable plot rampages or a blackened ending. It is recommended that you develop evenly and spread the rain and dew around.]

Su Tingyan: “…Shut up.”

He looked at Li Xian across from him, whose eyes were already dazed from fear, and gave one last warning. “What happened tonight, I hope Young Master Li will keep his mouth shut. If even a single word gets out of Zhunyun Tower and damages the dignity of the imperial house, I believe Young Master Li knows what the consequences will be.”

He had specifically sent this useless sack home not only because he worried Yan Che might refuse to let things go, but also to give the man one more private warning.

Li Xian was practically half-dead already, and he answered tearfully, “I-I know, Su-daren. I would never say a word, even if I died…”

By the time they reached the residence of the Vice Minister of Personnel, the night had deepened. In the dark, the layered terraces and pavilions of the Li residence, its green glazed tiles and vermilion roofs, all displayed the owner’s power and wealth.

Though it was not as extravagantly overstepping as Lu Xuan’s, it was by no means something an ordinary vice minister’s salary could afford.

Li Xian was helped down from the carriage by Qinghai, shivering as he knocked on his own front door.

When the gatekeeper saw the young master return in such a state, with the ice-cold-faced Su University Scholar standing behind him, he nearly lost his soul and stumbled off to report inside.

Very soon, Li Maocai, the Vice Minister of Personnel, hurried out to greet them. He had obviously already learned the gist of what had happened. His face was shocked and furious, but also carried a trace of panic.

“This official greets Su-daren! My unworthy son has no manners and offended you and the Sixth Highness. This official, this official…”

While apologizing repeatedly, Li Maocai shot his useless son a fierce glare.

Su Tingyan, however, did not look at him. His gaze passed over the high walls, over the pavilions and towers of the Li residence, over the soaring eaves and bracket sets, lingering again and again on the luxurious outline that remained impossible to ignore even in the moonlight.

A mere vice minister, yet he lived in a palace like this.

A gold mountain and jade hall built from countless bones.

He was not the real upright remonstrating official Su Zhao, but he was still a righteous young man with decent values.

Darkness and filth clenched around his bright, bleeding heart.

“Lord Li’s residence is indeed quite grand,” he said, his voice taking on a layer of deep black even in the night, heavy and frightening. “I wonder how much it cost? It must not have been easy.”

Li Maocai’s heart lurched. Cold sweat broke out across his forehead at once. “Su-daren is joking. It’s only an old house passed down from our ancestors. We merely repaired it a little.”

“Is that so?” Su Tingyan cut him off, his gaze finally landing on his face. “This pavilion had thought it was because Lord Li managed affairs outside so well that he earned this huge estate?”

The sarcasm in those words was so thick it was almost impossible to dissolve.

Li Maocai’s face turned green and white in turns, but he did not dare retort. He could only bow again and again. “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare. Su-daren is wise…”

Su Tingyan could not be bothered to keep up appearances with him any longer. He gave the imposing gate and the flattering father and son one last icy glance, then turned toward his own carriage.

Just before he got in, he paused, tilted his head toward that luxurious residence, and in a voice so soft only Qinghai beside him could hear, gave a faint, cold snort.

“Someday, I’ll burn this entire place to the ground with one great fire. I want to see whether this nest built on devouring the people’s blood and fat is really made of gold!”

Qinghai’s heart jolted violently at the words, and he instinctively lowered his head, not daring to answer.

After saying that, Su Tingyan stayed no longer and bent down into the carriage.

Author’s Note:

———————-

Su Tingyan: Emperor, your son is gay.

Yan Che: Teacher, I’m not, I’m not homosexual!

Su Tingyan: And this still isn’t?

Yan Che, shyly: I’m master-sexual~

Su Tingyan: …